Summer Days, Drifting Away
by Mtbookworm
Summary: No one can be a Newsies forever. But they can all be Newsies for one more day at least. Written for the Newsies Pape Selling Competition Forum


**This was supposed to be a light fluffy piece about the newsies on the beach in the summer for the Newsies pape selling competition. This is what it turned into. Hope you like it.**

 **Prompts:**

 **Camera**

 **Blue**

 **Newsies at the beach**

 **Word count: 3065**

Albie knew he wasn't supposed to be doing this. His Ma had told him dozens of times he wasn't supposed to snoop in great grandpa's things. But he couldn't himself. Albert Antony Higgins was a very curious seven year old, and as a curious seven year old he found himself in the his great grandpa stayed in at his grandparents house, rifling through old boxes trying to find something he could play with. It was summer so his parents had dropped him off at his grandparents while they were at work.

The boxes he was looking through had some faded righting on it, the only letter he could make out were _n, w, e,_ and _s_ with a few letters in between. He found an old battered deck of cards, some cut out newspaper clippings, a gray hat, and small brown box with the word cigars on it. He didn't quite know what those where but he knew his dad had a box like that sitting on his desk at home.

When Albie picked up the small box, he heard a few things rattling inside. He opened up the box to see that it was full old pictures. There were a bunch of them in there. Somewhere newer and some were old with frayed edges.

"Albert, come to the kitchen. Lunch will be ready soon." He heard his grandmother Sophia called to him from the kitchen. Along with most seven-year-old boys, he stomach took precedent, so he stuffed the photos in his pocket and ran out to wait for lunch in the dinning room.

Sitting at the head of the table when he got there was his Grandpa Higgins. Being as he was at 79, his great-grandpa couldn't move around much, and Albert wasn't always sure how to act around him, but he was told by his parents and his grandparents that it meant the world to great-grandpa when Albie came by. Albie wasn't quite sure what they meant, buy like any other child, he liked it when people where happy with him, so he always made sure to smile extra big for Grandpa Higgins.

Maybe it was this that caused Albie to do what he did next.

"Grandpa Higgins, can ask you something?" He said, hopping up in the chair next to him.

"Of course, Bambino." His great-grandpa chuckled. "What questions do you have?"

"What are these?" Albie asked, pulling the photos out of his pocket and putting them on the table in front of Grandpa Higgins.

"And where did you find these?" He asked Albie, with a little twinkle in his eye.

"In a box." Albie responded quietly.

"In a box where?" He asked again with a smile.

"A box in your room. I'm sorry Grandpa Higgins. I didn't mean to be where I wasn't supposed to. I was just looking for a toy." Albie, in a child's fashion, almost began to cry before his great-grandfather shushed him.

"Don't cry Bambino, no reason to cry." His great-grandfather soothed. "I was just as curious at your age. Always getting into things."

"Really?" Albie wiped the tears from his eyes.

"Of course. I got in to my fair share of trouble." He laughed. "Now, you wanted me to tell you about these photos?" Albie nodded his head eagerly.

"Alright then," Grandpa Higgins put on his glassed he kept in his pocket and picked up the first photo. It was a black and white photo of a baby in a white dress. "This is you're great Aunt Rosalina before her baptism." Albie could hardy believe the baby in this photos was his Grandpa Nico's older sister.

"And this one way your Great-Grandma an I on our wedding day." He showed Albie a picture of a man who looked just like Albie's father and beautiful woman in a white dress. "You remember your Great-Grandma, don't you Bambino?"

"Yes, sir." Albie did remember his Great-Grandma Diana a little. He remembered that she had a nice smile, made this best cookies, and always had a piece of hard candy and a hug for him.

"She was a great lady she was. So nice, but wouldn't take any crap from anyone. She brought out the best in me. Even got me to quite smoking. I sure do miss her." Albie could hear the sadness in his great-grandpa voice, so he scooted his chair closer to his great-grandpa and rapped his arms around him.

"Don't be sad Grandpa Higgins."

"It' alright Bambino. I'm a happy sad. You have to be that way sometimes." The old man hugged his great-grandson close. "Now lets look at the rest of these pictures."

Together the two of them looked through all the pictures. Most of them were pictures of Albie Great-grandparents and a few of his grandfather Nico or great-aunt Rosalina. Finally they got to the picture at the bottom of the pile. This picture was by far the oldest of the bunch. It was a picture of five boys on a beach. The one on the far right Albie was pretty sure was his great-grandfather. The other four he didn't know who they were.

"Grandpa Higgins, what about this one?" Albie asked, holding out the photo to his great grandpa.

"I remember this. This was when we went out to the beach by the docks when it was to hot to sell."

"Who are we? Sell What?" Albie asked.

"My friends and I. And we were selling papers. I did tell you about how I was a newsboy, right?"

Albie shook his head no. "Could you tell me about it now?"

"Of course, Bambino, of course."

Racetrack Higgins was miserable. Absolutely, undoubtedly miserable. It wasn't bad enough that it was nearly 100 degrees outside, he had to be out in the hot sun selling papes that he wasn't selling very many of due to the lousy headlines. Not to mention he had lost yesterdays pay at the tracks last night. So yeah, Racetrack Higgins was not having a good day.

"Heya, Race." The angry Italian turned around to see Mush running up to him at full speed.

"What do you want Mush? Can't you see im trying to sell theses papers." He responded irritably. He was not in the mood for this.

"I can see you ain't havin' any luck." The other newsboy laughed.

"Did ya come here to rub that in or did ya have actual point in comin' here?"

"I was just gonna tell you a couple of the guys are going to that old beach by the docks. It's hot as hell and papes aren't selling so we got nothing better to do. Wanna come?"

"Why not, beats being burned alive in this heat." He said as he hopped down of his perch and followed his friend to where the other guys were waiting. It wouldn't hurt him not to sell his last few papes, he would just sell them back to the distribution center.

"So who are we meeting there, exactly?" he asked.

"Cowboy and Mouth. And I think Spots might be there. It was Cowboy's idea. He don't seam to be caring to much about selling these days." Mush replied. Race just nodded.

"Why should he be, he's quitin' at the end of summer." Every single newsies had been shocked when their leader announced that when summer was over, so was his time as a newsie. Everyone new it was coming, but it was all the more real when he announced it. And put all the more pressure on the others that their time as newsies was coming to an end as well.

"I mean he has got a good reason to. I would quit right now to if I had that good a reason." Race added. That reason had a name, and the reason name was Molly. Jack had meet Molly a two months after the strike, and about two weeks after he and Sarah had broken it off. It seemed like she was just what Jack needed; she was patient when he was impulsive, forgiving when he was forgetful, and had a smile for him every time they saw each other. But more than that it was clear she was in love with him. And it was obvious he was in love with her. So Jack, at almost 19, was finally leaving the life of a newsboy behind.

"So you gunnin' for new leader when he leaves?" Race joked and elbowed his buddy in the side. Mush just rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Nah, I told Cowboy not to consider me." Race just looked at him stunned.

"Why the hell did you that? You always talking about how you wanta be leader."

"Cause I probably ain't gonna be far behind him."

"You leavin' to? First Spot, then Cowboy, now you." Race stopped in his tracks. It was true. Spot had left a few months after the strike, handed down the keys to Brooklyn to his right hand and had gotten a job at the docks. He said something along the lines of he was to old to be a newsboy that the strike was his last victory, and that he was quitting while he was ahead. They didn't see much of him anymore, but he came a round once in awhile.

"Don't be like that, Race. We all gotta quit eventually." His buddy said, sounding more serious than Race had ever heard him sound.

"Let me guess, you leaving for Maria?" Maria was a girl Mush had meet a while back and had been head over heels for ever since. And not his normal "stuck on every pretty girl he sees" kinda way but in actualy "seriously like this girl" kinda way.

"She ain't the reason I'm leaving." Race looked at him, not believing it. "Well she ain't the only reason I'm leaving. It's time to move on. But lets forget about that for now, today's supposed to be for fun. I'll race you the rest of the way to the beach." The though of all serious things behind them, the two boys ran the last couple a blocks to the docks, and the climbed down the rooks to the little beach only the newsies knew about.

There they found Jack was already cooling off in the clear blue water, spot was sitting a rock that the waves kept crashing up on, and David was sitting in the sand fiddling with what looked like a brown box.

"What you got there, Mouth." Racetrack hollered as he and Mush hit the beach. The instant feeling of the warm sand on his toes was absolutely wonderful.

"It's a Brownie Camera my parents got me for my birthday. I'm trying to figure out how to get it to work."

"Your folks got you a camera? Aint that thing expensive?"

"The entire building chipped in for it. Said if I'm gonna be a reporter I need a camera." He said, briefly looking up before going back to the camera.

"I don't see how you can be a reported when you got to haul that thing around. That ways a tone." Jack said coming out of the water, shaking his hair like a dog to try it, effectively splashing the other three boys.

"Cowboy, watch were you're shaking that mane of yours. You getting' us all wet." Race said irritably.

"I'm doing you a favor. I'm cooling you off from the hot sun." He replied back with his signature cheeky grin.

"Yeah, some favor. Heya, Spot! You ain't the King of Brooklyn no more you don't gotta be so damn aloof. Get over here!" Race hollered, as was imminently rewarded with a pebble to the back of his head.

"Where's Molly, Jack? You two haven't been seeming to let the other out your sight." Mush asked.

Jack plopped down in the sand next to David, as Spot made his way over.

"She, Victoria, and Diane are all at Medda's." Apparently, Race's face had visibly perked up when Diana was mentioned.

"See, Jack I told you that would happen when you said Diana. Didn't I tell ya." Mush laughed as he to sat down in the sand with the rest of them.

Diane was a waitress at Tibby's whom Race both couldn't take his eyes off of or get up the nerve to talk to. It was an ongoing dilemma.

"I'm gone for a few months and all ya'll seem to be talking about is dames. You've all gone soft." Spot rolled his eyes at the others.

"We cant all me rough and tough dock men like you, Spot." David said with a smile, not even looking up from the camera. "Or should I say Andrew?"

"You wanna loose a few teeth, Mouth, then keep talking." The former newsie growled.

"Alright, I don't know about you guys but I am dying in this heat. I'm getting in, anyone care to join me?" Mush asked as he got up and started heading for the water. Race and Jack shot up with him, pushing each other as they ran for the blue water. Spot just followed behind.

"Ya comin' Davey?" jack hollered over his shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm coming. That camera is giving me a headache."

So the five boys messed around in the water for a bit. Spot was the first to get out going back and sitting over on the rock, looking out at the ships in the docks. Jack went out next, just sitting on the sand, look at a piece paper that Race would bet was a picture of Molly. David went out next, going back to his camera, then followed by Mush who started drawing maps in the sands. Race was the last to get out of the cool blue waters, and he only got out when David called out to all of them.

"Guys, get over here. I finally got it all figure out." All the boys came over from their various spots to look at David's handy work. "You guys sit here." He pointed to spot in the sand where they all sat. "No when I press this button, it will take the picture, but it takes about five seconds so I am going to run over and sit next to you guys, got it?" they all nodded. So David pressed the button and dived next to them, almost knocking Jack over. They saw a flash, and then it was over

So there they all sat, on the beach, watching the sun go down, eating hot dogs they went and bought a block over, talking about nothing of great importance, all thought of the future or leaving far from their heads.

Looking back on it now, Anthony Higgins realized that had been one of the last times they were all together as carefree newsies. That had let him keep the picture David had taken, they all new he needed it the most.

True to his word, at the end of the summer Jack left, got himself an honest job, saved up some money, and married the girl of his dreams, though he didn't end up straying to far from the newsies. Eventually when good old Klopman got to old to keep up the lodge, he handed the keys to Jack.

David had left next. Though he had been a newsboys a bit more sporadically then the rest, no one could say he wasn't a newsie like the rest of them. When he left, he moved from selling the papers, to writing them. He worked in way up in the ranks of the New York Sun, eventually getting to the editor and chief. It was clear that he was much better at righting the papers then at selling them, and his days as a newsiest ought him how to right a good headline.

Mush was next he went farther than the other guys did. He ended up moving to Boston, said he wanted to start fresh. He wrote often, and the others guys saw him a handful of time through the years.

Race had held out the longest. He had been a newsie for so long he didn't know what else to do. Much like Jack, one of the main reasons he left was for a girl. He finally had gotten Diana to go out with him, but he realized that if he was to ever have a chance with that girl, it was time for him to grow up. He ended up working at the train yards, and had made a pretty good living there.

But, just like as they had said, they all had still remained close friends. They had lunch at Tibby's often and where always bumping into each other's life. And every summer they went back to that beach, to look at the murky blue waters of the Hudson and just forget about everything.

"Are any of them still alive Grandpa Higgins?" Albie looked up at his great grandfather eagerly, still enthralled in the story.

"I am afraid not, Bambino. I'm the last one left." The old man looked solemnly down at his great grandson. Albert Higgins looked up at his great grandpa, saw the sadness in his eyes and was determined to make it go away. So he hopped down off his chair and ran out of the room. 

When he came back in, he had put on the old gray hat he had found in the box, which was far to big for him and falling down over his eyes, and was waving around the newspaper clippings he had found in the box.

"See look, Grandpa Higgins. Now I'm a newsie too." The old man felt a smile form on his face and swell form in his heart.

"That you are Bambino, that your are."

From that day on Albert Higgins and his great grandfather were as thick as thieves. Every time Albie visited Anthony Higgins would tell him stories of his days as newsie with his friends. One day that summer Albie came with a gift for his great grandpa. It was picture of him, on the same beach by the Hudson, the blue waters in the background, and the gray cap on his head. That picture, along with the one just like it taken almost 60 years before, sat next to Anthony "Racetrack" Higgins till the day he died.


End file.
